Printed Pain
by seddiefan11
Summary: A grown up Avery finds out about what he father did to her mother and things turn ugly.


"Leo cut it out." Avery said as her cousin Leo kept making noise. "We are trying to not get caught, remember?"

Leo shook his head. "Well maybe you shouldn't have dragged me with you to break into the school library at 2 o'clock in the morning!"

"Shhhhh!" Avery said as she continued forward the light on her phone being the only thing to guide her through the maze of bookshelves.

Leo reluctantly followed behind his cousin who also happened to be his best friend. The two attended Port Charles High in of course, Port Charles New York. The school was just as it had been since there family members who had attended the school was, aka very out of date, so for a daughter of two criminals, this break in was a piece of cake.

"Why the _hell_ are we even breaking in, can't you just get this during the day?' Leo said whispering this time with a roll of the eyes, still following the brunette girl.

"I told you already," Avery said as she reached the file cabinets she was looking for. "They won't give me access! Something about a permission slip only being signed by one parent."

Avery's fingers traced down the cabinets, following the years until she landed on the one she was looking for. **2014** the cabinet card read, the same year Avery was born.

Avery reached into her messy bun and pulled out an excess bobby pin. She placed it into the cabinet lock and did exactly what she was best at doing: Breaking the rules.

After a few short moments she heard a click from the cabinet, in the silence it was the loudest thing besides Leo sighing of boredom behind her.

She opened the cabinet and looked at the papers inside, something most wouldn't care about at all. The cabinet was full every inch of copies of the _Port Charles Press_ from the year. Avery didn't even know where to start, but she certainly knew her mother. Her mother was overprotective, from what she thought was the learning experience of a relaxed parenting attempt on her older sister Kiki.

"I don't have time to go through all of this, mom always checks on me in the night." Avery said frustrated. "If i'm not in bed when she comes to check on me i'm dead."

"Not like she hasn't killed before." Leo stated.

Avery rolled her eyes. Everyone on her father's side had made it _very_ clear since she was able to comprehend crimes to tell her what her mother had done. But they never cared about what mattered, the fact that the mom she knew had done nothing but loved her.

She confronted her mother of course. Ava wasn't dumb, and neither was Avery so she was frank with her. She killed Connie. Ava told her everything although grim, and she was left with the actual truth. Ava wasn't proud or happy of it, but she'd do anything for family so she doesn't regret saving her brothers life.

Avery didn't have to think much, if she was sure of anything it was the fierce love Ava had for her family, and a need to protect them unlike she'd ever seen or felt.

It took a while but she didn't blame her mom. Everyone has flaws, especially in the crazy family she grew up in. Had she mentioned she was almost her brothers daughter?

"Leo shut up, she did it to save _your_ dad!" Avery said hand's and eyes dancing on the different papers with different dates on them. "You wouldn't even be alive without what she did."

"True." Leo shrugged, then smiling as he thought about his positive relationship with his aunt. "Plus Auntie Ava is a pretty badass Aunt."

"Thats my mom.' Avery said smiling, proud to be a Jerome- not that she ever wasn't.

"I wanna go home so let's just do this!" Leo said as he gathered a large amount of papers into his arms and shoving them into his bag making lots of noise and probably crunching a good few issues.

"Leo!" Avery stared in complete shock. "We can't just take a whole years worth of papers from the library."

"Since when do you have morals?" Leo asked as he continued to grab and stuff papers, even placing some inside Avery's bag to fit them.

"It's not about morals, it's about not getting caught." Avery said although helping hold her bag open for the papers to fill it up. "They'll notice a whole drawer missing!"

"Avery C'mon!" Leo said as he zipped the bag in his cousins hands. "Do you wanna know what this big secret is or not?"

Avery just nodded as she swung the bag around her shoulder and signaling for the pair to head out with there loot.

"Not like they can see who we are." Avery mumbled as she walked by the door. Above the door the only camera in the library, with the cord cut. This was pure child's play.

The next day Avery sat on her bed, her and Leo's bag next to her as she contemplated if looking was actually a good idea. On one hand she was feeling guilty. Not about breaking in or anything, but about having a right to look. Her family clearly didn't want her knowing whatever it was but how could she resist? Her hand reached for the zipper of her bag just as the door knob on her bedroom door moved followed by the door opening to reveal her mother.

Ava was smiling and holding two cups in her hands as she entered into her daughters room.

"Hey honey, I figured you were up so I brought you hot cocoa." Ava said as she sat on the edge of her daughter's bed, handing the girl the one mug.

Avery took it and her hand's curled around the cup feeling it's warmth. She smiled back at her mom before taking a sip of the hot beverage.

"When i checked on you last night you were tossing and turning." Ava said placing a hand on her daughter's cheek, looking into her eyes with concern. "You worried baby girl?"

"Just a midterm that's coming up Mom." Avery lied. "Rocco actually had this class three years ago, he said it's really hard. The other's i'm not worried about but this biology one has me on edge."

"Only you would be so blasé about a majority of their midterms." Ava said moving her hand to her daughter's beautiful hair that curled around her face so well. "You are gonna do perfect, and if you are so worried why don't I try and help you study?"

"You?" Avery said stunned almost laughing knowing science was her mother's worst subject.

"Okay fine." Ava said laughing along with her daughter. "I could _pay_ someone to help you."

"Thanks mom but Leo's in the class, we are gonna study buddy all next week to make sure we ace it." Avery explained feeling such bliss from such a simple moment, knowing whatever she found out could take simple happiness away.

"I'm gonna go make breakfast," Ava said. "I know i'm not the best cook- I mean I burn water for gosh sakes but fruit salad isn't too tough and it's your favorite."

"Thanks Mom." Avery said letting her mother kiss the top of her head before Ava headed for the door.

"Mom, Wait!" Avery quickly exclaimed stopping her mother from leaving the room.

Ava turned to her daughter waiting to hear what she was going to ask, not expecting what she was asked.

"Before I was born, like not forever but like _right_ before...you were happy right mom?" Avery asked cautiously.

Ava didn't know what to say, but she would never lie to her daughter so she came up with a quick answer nobody could argue with.

"I had you to look forward, how could I not be happy?"

Finally after a long day Avery ended up back in her room, the bags on the bed to greet her and remind her of her biggest fears.

It was like ripping off a band-aid. She could do this.

As she glanced through the paper's though she felt sick to her stomach, which never happened when she would rip off a band-aid.

She'd of killed for the simple pain of a cut, because _this_ was more than she ever expected. She had so many questions, she had to go to the only unbiased source she knew. So she called her uncle Julian and they agreed to meet and somehow she got to Charlie's even though her tears made it hard to see where she was going.

Sonny sat in his living room at his desk counting numbers from his both legal and non legal sales. Suddenly he heard his phone ring from the desk beside his papers. " **Max: Avery is here to see you."**

 **"Send her in."** he sent back, surprised yet happy to see his daughter was stopping by without notice.

Expecting to here to the door open and close nicely and his daughter wrap around him in a hug he was more than shocked and started when instead the door was opened and the sound of a slam came from the entryway.

This made Sonny stand up and turn around only to see his daughter standing in the doorway of the living room, pure rage on her face.

"Avery what's the matter?" Sonny asked her as he noticed her anger immediately. it was so unlike her, she was always so happy. She had an abundance of family between the Corinthoses' and the Jerome's which meant love and support, so how could she enter the home he loved her in from the start like this out of the blue.

"You." She said through gritted teeth.

"What?"

"You!" This time she screamed throwing her bag down by the stairs. She stepped closer to the man she loved all these years and she knew now what she thought before: she had no love left for him.

She stared at him in the eyes, not sure what to do or say. The longer she stared the harder her own eyes burned and filled to the brim with tears blurring her vision. She wiped them furiously from her face as she looked away from him finally.

"I know everything!" She screamed at him. "I talked to Uncle Julian, he couldn't lie to me the way you have my whole damn life!"

Sonny didn't know what to say, not only because he had never seen his daughter like this but because he wasn't sure what she was talking about.

"What-"

"Stop it!" she pleaded before breaking down a little bit, clutching her chest as she pleaded. "Stop it now."

She reached down to her bag selecting the papers she had left on the top. The headlines reading: **Ava Jerome Declared Dead, Corinthos-Jerome Baby Kidnapped, Ava Jerome MIA,** and a few others **.**

 **"** Julian told me everything, and more." She said angrily showing him the papers. "Everything you did to _my_ mother- no wait, my mother and _me!_ I was inside her how could you not give a damn!"

"I never hurt you."

"Like hell!" She said throwing the papers in his face. "What do you call this?! Do I look joyed to you? Why did you do this?!"

"Do what?! Avery I don't even know what you are accusing me of!"

"I'm accusing you of what you did, but why don't I repeat all of it for you see if you are still so smug about trying to kill my mother, holding her hostage in this very house I call my home making sure everyday she knew she would never have me or her own life."

"Avery-"

"I'm not finished!" She screamed so loudly the room felt toxic. "How you chased after her, how you mentally and physically did nothing but hurt her, how you left her dangling fucking bridge in the middle of winter bleeding to death, how you wanted her to die and hurt and even _burn_ when she was trapped in that fire."

Avery's eyes flew daggers as she continued.

"You kept me from her, I was too young to know or even miss her but how did that help her, did she not yearn for her own flesh and blood?!" she argued. "the only reason i know my mother is because she fought for me, just like she fought to save her own life at your hands."

Sonny stared at his feet not liking how the conversation was going, him being villianized. Julian he figured to blame, never considering he was wrong.

"What about me..." She said stepping closer to him. "Look at me..I said _look_ at me!"

He looked up to find his daughter's tearstained face.

"What about me? I could have been hurt or killed in all this. When you held a gun to her you held a gun to _me!_ when you caused her stress it could have hurt _me_! I'm not selfish, but i always figured maybe you cared about me."

"Of course I do! I love you!"

"Love me?!" Avery said stunned. "You don't love me! How could you stand there and say you love me out of the same mouth you called my mother a bitch, told her she was going to die, how many things you said about me just to hurt her, using me as a weapon, if that's love then love makes me sick."

"Avery..." Sonny said trying to grab her hand but she pulled her hand back quickly even stepping back for good measure. "Your mother killed the love of my life."

"How many bodies are under your floorboards dad? I'm sure it's much much more. The difference is that yours don't make a sound under your feet, you keep living and thriving, why would you waste time thinking about them or there families, it's not you thats hurting right? Mom cares, she regrets it and she did it to save her brother! I have brothers, sisters and yes an incredible mom i'd do the same for!" She cried. "But i'd never touch anyone that meant anything to them, you however don't have a moral line to stay behind."

"What do you want Avery, an apology?" Sonny asked. "I'm sorry I lied to you."

"That means nothing! Do you understand that means nothing to me?!" She said as she grabbed her bag from the floor wanting to gather her things. "You lied because you knew I wouldn't forgive you, you were right."

She grabbed the papers from her father's feet and stuffed them in the bag zipping it up with the contents inside.

"As for what I want, I want my father to be Morgan. I never met my brother but mom loved him and he loved her and he never placed a finger on her. However that's unrealistic, so instead I want a life with my mom, my beautiful kind and loving mother and the real family I have far far away from you." Avery told him gathered together both emotionally and with her things.

She approached the doorway to the room, looking at her father's teary eyes and looked into them a final time before she left the place and her father behind for good. She took a deep breath before speaking. "And I'm going to give myself that life."


End file.
